Di Yan quickly looked back and saw hundreds of guards, eunuchs, and palace maids slowly coming with a yellow umbrella cover. The guards dodged to both sides and gave up a piece of open space. Di Yan also saw that the empress Wu Zetian was standing on a carriage with her hands on her back, accompanied by Shangguan Wan'er, and followed by more than a dozen senior officials.

Di Yan suddenly thought of her father. If her father was not dismissed from prescription, he should have followed him. She felt a little sad. She knew that her father wanted to return to the court and do some major things for the country and the people. I wonder when his father would be able to return to office?

Wu Zetian happened to have nothing to do today. When she heard that the martial arts and cavalry exam was being conducted in the imperial city, she happily came to watch. At this time, the chief examiner, Wang Xuan, the Minister of War, hurried to see Wu Zetian with several examiners. Wu Zetian asked with a smile: "How long has the martial arts competition started?"

"Report to your Majesty, it's already half over!"

Wu Zetian nodded and asked again: "How is the martial arts of participating scholars this year?"

"Report to Your Majesty, this year's reference scholars' skills in riding and shooting are generally better than last year. Five full marks appeared in the pre-examination a few days ago. It is estimated that this year's top martial arts scholar will be among the five of them."

"Oh! Which five people are they?" Wu Zetian asked with interest.

"One is the lieutenant recommended by the Beiting Army, named Gai Jiayun, a Thousand Cavalry General Dou Xianyun, the Lang general Lu Yuan recommended by the Longyou Army, and the royal family member Li Yi, and the other is Li Zhen, the deputy commander of the inner guard. These five are brave generals with great cavalry and shooting. If last year, everyone could win the championship, they all appeared this year."

Among these five people, Wu Zetian knew three. Dou Xianyun was the best-known polo player and was the most famous. Of course, Li Yi also knew that Taizong's great-grandson, the legitimate grandson of King Li Ke of Wu. As for Li Zhen, the rising rookie last year, Wu Zetian witnessed his riding and shooting with his own eyes. It was not surprising that Wu Zetian said that he was superb in riding and shooting.

"Have they all cum?"

"Report to Your Majesty, Lu Yuan from Longyou Army has shot, and he has three cavalry and shooting, with an additional score of 39, currently ranked first, and the other four have not started yet."

Wu Zetian asked with a smile: "I don't have much time, so Shangshu Wang can arrange for them to compete together to open my eyes!"

"I obey the order!"

Wang Xuan ran to make arrangements. If there is a good thing from the superiors, the subordinates will welcome him. As the Minister of War and as the prime minister, Wang Xuan knew what the emperor liked. He knew what method to satisfy the emperor's interests. In fact, it was a popular way that everyone liked - martial arts competition.

All the guards who watched the military rituals, including the scholars who participated in the martial arts, were sensational. Although the Minister of War only selected four people, no one had any questions about them.

The guards' gambling words say everything. Everyone knows that they are the strongest candidates in this martial arts performance, and they are extremely vulgar.

Dou Xianyun is recognized as the number one player in the Tang Dynasty, and is good at riding and shooting. Li Yi is the best among the royal family. He is very famous in Luoyang. As for Li Zhen, the deputy commander of the inner guard, he has been heard of for a long time that he is famous for riding and shooting. Many people have seen him during training, but most people have not witnessed it. This is an excellent opportunity.

Although there is not much other person, Gai Jiayun, he comes from the Western Regions army with the strongest riding and shooting. The preliminaries are full marks, so it is estimated that riding and shooting will not be below the front three.

There were more and more guards coming to watch, with more than 10,000 people. They were mainly surrounded on both sides of the north and south, with a passionate and spectacular momentum.

Wang Xuan called Dou Xianyun, Li Yi, Gai Jiayun and Li Zhen to the front and said to the four of them: "The emperor is here in the examination room, and the examination method is slightly adjusted. You four will pass the exam separately, and pass the first exam in order, or shoot three arrows each, but you need to use the vermilion arrow and the moving armor puppet target. Is there any problem?"

The vermilion arrow is a kind of arrow for performance. The body of the arrow is painted in vermilion. The armor puppet target is different from the straw man target. It is a doll target made of cork. It is covered with armor and is held by soldiers and runs. Although it is easy for viewers to appreciate from afar, this method invisibly increases the difficulty.

The four of them looked at each other. Although the vermilion arrow and the puppet target had some impact, the impact was not great. The key was to move the target. The difficulty suddenly increased several times. They might not be able to shoot the "Three Bests" results. Maybe they would fail the martial arts exam, which is obviously unfair.

Dou Xianyun said a little dissatisfied: "Moving the target is too unfair to us!"

Wang Xuan also knew in his heart that it was really unfair for other scholars to take the stationary targets and the mobile targets were tested, so he said to them again: "All the riding and shooting masters are masters, and it should not be a big problem if they are a little stricter. This is how it is! According to the custom of riding and shooting competitions in the palace, the moving targets are up and down relative to the stationary targets, and this condition should be better!"

Dou Xianyun participated in the palace riding and shooting competition. He knew the rules well. In fact, the middle and upper part of the mobile target are equivalent to the upper part of the stationary target. This is the recognized standard in the riding and shooting competition. Wang Shangshu obviously raised the standard a little higher. However, Dou Xianyun was arrogant and did not want to worry about it anymore, so he bowed and said, "I accept this plan!"

Dou Xianyun spoke, and the other three agreed. Wang Xuan was overjoyed and immediately said: "Now we will draw lots to decide the order of appearance!"

The four of them knew in their hearts that they were playing a riding and shooting competition for the emperor. The four of them were ready to try. In fact, Dou Xianyun and Gai Jiayun lowered their additional points by a point because of a lighter bow and arrow. They were currently at a disadvantage.

If it is a static target, the two of them basically have no chance of being the top scorer, but it is extremely difficult to move the target, and it is easy to get off-target or low scores, which brings them a glimmer of hope. After all, the scores will still be different in the center of the eyebrows and the neck of the three arrows.

Li Zhen drew a lottery from Wang Xuan's hand, and the lottery number was four, which means he would be the last one. Li Zhen did not say a word, took a pot of vermilion arrows and walked to the side. He had to adapt to the feel of the vermilion arrows first.

Li Zhen pulled out a large vermilion arrow, and saw the arrow feathers, the body and arrow head were painted in bright red vermilion. The length was about an inch longer than usual arrows, and the arrow feathers were slightly larger and slightly heavier. He put the arrow on the bowstring, pulled it a little apart, and felt the feel.

At this time, someone next to him smiled and said, "It's a little different, right!"

Li Zhen turned around and saw Li Yi holding his hands in front of his chest, standing outside a dozen steps to stare at him, with a faint smile on his lips. Li Yi was about twenty years old, with a slender figure, wide shoulders, especially long arms, and very strong. His face was thin, his face was slightly pale, and his eyes were shining with a bright luster.

Li Yi also has two stone bows, with full scores in the pre-examination. Currently, the additional score is tied for Li Zhen. If you follow the previous static target, the top scorer this year should be between them. However, Li Yi also participated in this year's imperial examination. Although he failed to pass the imperial examination, he was also very talented and a rare achievement of both civil and military affairs.

Li Yi slowly walked forward, pulled out a Danzhu arrow from the quiver pot behind him, stared at him for a moment, and smiled at Li Zhen: "I practiced Danzhu arrow for a month last fall, of course not for today. I was just out of curiosity. Although the difficulty of riding and shooting lies in the slightest difference and a thousand miles of loss, I found that it is more psychological reasons. If you regard it as an ordinary arrow, you will not be affected."

Li Zhen showed a grateful smile on his face and said to him: "Why did Mr. Yi say this to me?"

"Because I hope you can perform at a superb level, I hope to be a friend but not an enemy with you."

Li Zhen stared at him for a moment and smiled and said, "We are just competitors, aren't we? The opponents are not enemies, the opponents on the field, and maybe friends off the field."

Li Yi smiled, "Then we will do our best to compete with our arrow skills. No matter who wins in the end, we will be convinced by each other!"

After saying that, Li Yi bowed to Li Zhen, turned around and walked towards his war horse. Li Zhen smiled from afar and said, "Young Master Yi, my war horse may have a little advantage."

"We have to have each other, my bow is the legacy of Chu Fangming, the number one bow craftsman in the Tang Dynasty, and we must also have a little advantage."

Both of them laughed. At this time, Li Zhen suddenly felt that no matter how good he wins or loses, it would be great if he could make friends with this person.

....

At the side of the venue, Di Yan became a little worried. Although she was unwilling to forgive Li Zhen and always asked about his faults in this and that, in fact, she cared about Li Zhen more than anyone else. Of course, she hoped that he could win the championship and that he could leave the palace through this martial arts ceremony.

Especially when she heard that the Queen's personal bodyguard was also doing another special thing for the Queen, she was very worried and at the same time she felt glad that Li Zhen left Wu Zetian's personal bodyguard in time.

But the inner guard is still one of the guards after all. Even if Li Zhen has been promoted to deputy commander, she still displeased, which makes her very conflicted and helpless. She knew that she could not change the reality and entered the inner guard and could not leave as long as she wanted. She suggested that Li Zhen apply to be transferred to the border, but in fact she was just venting her depression.

At this time, a rider appeared, which caused cheers from the guards on both sides. Di Yan asked anxiously: "Fatty, who is that?"

Jiu Zhi stared at him for a moment and said, "I know Dou Xianyun, Li Yi has also seen him. Lu Yuan has ejaculated, so this person should be Gai Jiayun."

"He...is he very powerful?"

"Of course, it's a great character. Look, he's starting!"

Gai Jiayun scored No. 1 and was the first to appear. He was ready. The front hooves of the war horse gently kicked the ground. With a drum sound, he urged the horse to rush out. The war horse ran around and then rushed towards the casing track.

The total length of the archery track is 150 steps, and the range of archery is within 60 steps. Three arrows must be shot within 60 steps. The time is very short. However, for scholars who can enter Beijing to participate in the martial arts ceremony, it should be no big problem to shoot three arrows at 60 steps, so the exam has been half gone, but no one has finished shooting yet.

But for the stationary target, it is not the same for the mobile target. There is a 100-step siding plate with a length of 100 steps away from both sides. There are three soldiers on both sides of the board, holding a puppet target with armor on both sides of the board, running in a row.

Candidates can shoot left or right. If they can shoot left and right, they can get extra points, but the difficulty is greatly increased, and the time required to shoot three arrows at sixty steps is very nervous, especially the third arrow, which is very likely to be shot in a hurry.

Gai Jiayun was less than 20 years old and very young, but he seemed atmospheric and calm. He gritted his teeth and ran. The horse rushed through the arrow line. A big Danzhu arrow immediately hit the bowstring, and an arrow broke out and shot at the puppet like a meteor. An arrow hit the cheek of the first puppet on the left. He then turned around and changed hands. An arrow shot at the right running puppet target, which hit the middle of the puppet target's eyebrows. The third arrow shot out at the last moment, hitting the forehead of the third puppet target's right.

Gai Jiayun's left and right archery aroused cheers from the guards watching the battle on both sides.
Chapter completed!